Lighting a Fire
by forbesfever
Summary: Hermione Granger just wanted a quiet fourth year. Now shes got this tournament, boy problems, and she is once again fighting tooth and nail to keep Harry out of trouble. What's new?
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was not very interested in the Quidditch World Cup. Everyone knew she was not fond of Quidditch, but the Weasley's had invited her, and she would not feel right rejecting their invitation. So, she put on her big girl pants and started packing her trunk.

Considering this was now Hermione's fourth year of being an honorary Weasley and going to join the family for a few weeks each summer, Hermione's parents rarely put up a fuss about letting Hermione head to the Weasley home. Dan Granger liked to believe that he was able to read people very well, and after meeting the Weasleys he had deemed them very trustworthy. Now Emma was another story. Emma was the textbook definition of a mother hen, and always worried herself way too much about letting Hermione spend an extended period of time with another family. Dan and Hermione were usually able to calm her down before she locked Hermione in a tower though.

The day before the World Cup, Arthur arrived to get Hermione. Hermione hugged both her parents tight, as she wouldn't be seeing them until the Winter holiday. After her parents finally let her go, Hermione grasped Arthur's arm to apparate to the Burrow. The Burrow, Hermione had decided very early on in her first visit, was one of her favorite places in the world. The house was filled with warmth and always smelled like baked goods. The Burrow very much reminded Hermione of her Nan's house in Russia, a small cottage but filled with love and memories, making it another one of Hermione's favorite spots.

As soon as Hermione entered the Burrow behind Arthur she was attacked by hugs. First of course came Mrs. Weasley who began to fret over Hermione being too thin and needing to eat more. Once Mrs. Weasley had released her, Ginny swooped in for her hug. Ginny and Hermione had gotten along immediately once they had been introduced considering Hermione and Ginny both really needed some female friends in their lives, and Hermione never treated Ginny any different because she was younger, which couldn't be said about the Weasley boys.

After Ginny came the twins who, post growth spurt, took immense pleasure in trapping Hermione between them in a joint hug and slowly suffocating her. After a few moments of Hermione struggling, she heard an over exaggerated huff and felt the twins being pried apart. Hermione opened her eyes to see Ron snickering at her while Mrs. Weasley was holding onto the twins ears and berating them for smothering Hermione. Hermione faux glared at Ron before walking over to yank him into a hug (and smack him on the back of the head in the process).

The two best friends pulled apart and Hermione turned to see Harry smiling at her and Ron, so she yanked him in so she and Ron could smother him. After torturing Harry for a few moments the three best friends separated to see the kitchen was now empty sans a smiling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Well then," Mrs. Weasley said while clasping her hands "Hermione, you'll be staying with Ginny like usual. Boys, why don't you take Hermione's trunk up and then you three can mess about until dinner is ready." The three of them thanked Mrs. Weasley before running up the stairs. The boys dropped Hermione's trunk off in Ginny's room, where the girl was reading Witch Weekly, before heading up to Ron's room to discuss things.

"Bill and Charlie are coming in tonight for the Cup," Ron said as he opened his door and the three friends walked into his room to get comfortable. Hermione and Harry sat on Ron's bed while Ron sat in his desk chair across from the two. "Our Portkey is at the crack of dawn tomorrow so Mum is going to want us all in bed early tonight."

Ron and Harry then began debating whether Ireland or Bulgaria would be taking home the World Cup. This was the point that Hermione began to zone out. She ended up sliding down into a reclining position against the wall and threw her legs up and across Harry's lap, earning her a glare lacking any kind of heat. She ended up falling asleep to her two boys and their discussion of some 'Krum' character.

Hermione woke up to Ginny nudging her shoulder and calling her name. As she yawned, Ginny laughed and said "Bill and Charlie are here and dinner is ready. Mum wants you to come down." Hermione grunted in response and glared at Ginnys back as she left the room laughing at Hermione's expense. Hermione stretched, in a similar way to Crookshanks, before pulling herself out of Ron's bed. After quickly smoothing her hair down as to not resemble a birds nest, she headed down the rickety stairs towards the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen Hermione saw two new redheads being held to Mrs. Weasley's bosom, which was fairly comical considering the two oldest Weasley boys had at least a head of height on their mother. Hermione further entered the kitchen to see Ron, Ginny and Harry setting the table. Hermione went to join them and carried a large bowl of potatoes to the table and was turning to make a second trip when she heard Mrs. Weasley calling her name.

"Hermione dear, come meet Bill and Charlie," Mrs. Weasley introduced. Hermione smiled and shook the hand of the tallest of the two, who must of been Bill considering the long hair that Hermione had heard Mrs. Weasley complain about.

"Well you must be the "Brightest Witch of Her Age' that our family is always talking about," Bill said with a chuckle. "I'm Bill and this here is Charlie," he said gesturing to his brother. Where Bill was tall and lanky, Charlie was slightly less tall but twice as large, most likely due to dragon taming. Shaking Charlie's hand she said "It's nice to meet you both, I've heard a lot of things about the two of you from your siblings." The two oldest Weasleys laughed before saying in unison "all lies." Hermione joined them in their laughter before Mrs. Weasley shooed them off to the dinner table.

Sitting down at the table Hermione noticed that Percy has joined them for the meal, but was busy scribbling in a journal rather than paying attention to his surroundings. Hermione was seated beside Harry and Ginny with the twins across from them. As the table started to serve themselves, Mr. Weasley stood up, gathering the tables attention. "I just wanted to say that Molly and I are so happy to have the whole family under one roof again," he said, causing Mrs. Weasley to tear up, and all of the Weasley children to smile "Including Harry and Hermione here, who have become Weasley's in all but name and hair color." As he sat down, his final words caused Harry and Hermione both to blush Weasley red with large smiles on their face. As they all began to tuck in, Hermione could not help but think that there was no place she would rather be.

After dinner the family retired to the living room, to let their food settle, and for Bill and Charlie to tell funny stories about the youngest Weasley siblings. Harry, Ron and Hermione were stuffed into a loveseat together and Harry and Hermione had to prop each other up from laughter when Bill told the story of Ron pretending to be a gnome when he was three.

After a couple of hours of storytelling, Mrs. Weasley shooed the kids upstairs to sleep before the big day tomorrow. Hermione and Ginny got dressed for bed while giggling and talking about the day to come. Laying in the dark, waiting for sleep to claim her, Hermione could not help but feel like tomorrow was going to bring about a lot of change.


	2. Chapter 2

As promised, Mrs. Weasley was knocking on the girls door before the sun was up, waking them. Hermione and Ginny dragged themselves out of bed to get dressed and go down to eat before they had to catch their portkey. Both girls dressed very similarly in skinny jeans, tank tops and sneakers with a light jacket in case a night chill was about. Going downstairs, Mrs. Weasley had set out platters of toast and jam, eggs and fruit. The girls dug in and were soon joined by Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George.

They were not joined by Ron and Harry until they were almost all done eating. The boys scarfed their food down, and had barely set their forks down before Mr. Weasley was pushing them all out of the door to walk to the portkey. The group all chatted as they walked, and as they got close to the portkey they were joined by the Weasley's neighbors the Diggory's. Mr. Weasley introduced the two to all of us, though it seemed as if Harry, Fred and George already knew Cedric. The twins gave Cedric a deprecating look and seemed to be planning something until Hermione struck them with one her patented 'I know what you are doing and you had better stop' glares, and they began whistling and looking anywhere but Hermione. Ginny, witnessing the whole thing, nudged Hermione and giggled while Hermione sent her a self satisfied smirk.

The portkey was nothing but an old battered boot. Mr. Weasley instructed the youngest of them to grab onto the boot while the older boys knew what to do. Hermione wasn't sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn't the feeling of a hook grabbing her at the navel and yanking her along. The traveling itself wasn't too bad once she was accustomed to the feeling but the landing was horrific. Other than Cedric, all of the kids hit the ground in a heap. Hermione ended up landing on her back, sideways on top of George, with Ginny splayed across her legs.

After untangling themselves the group began to walk across the field towards the campsite that was set up. Mr. Weasley had a piece of paper with the number of their campsite on it, and he lead them deep into the rows of tents and fires. They split up from the Diggorys when they found their own tent. Their group passed a large group of Irish fans, and Hermione and Ginny had to keep the twins between them to ensure they didn't get lost because of the pretty color keeping their attention.

A minute later, Mr. Weasley made an 'aha!' sound as he found the tent. On the outside it looked like a regular tent, but when they entered the tent transformed into a cozy cottage, complete with a kitchen and two bathrooms. The girls claimed the bottom bunk of one of the bunkbeds before the boys could get there, leaving the twins on the top bunk, Harry and Ron in the opposite bed up top with Bill and Charlie on the bottom, Percy on a cot and Mr. Weasley in the one closed off bedroom in the tent.

Almost as soon as their bags had been dropped off, Ron practically dragged Harry and Hermione off to explore (while getting water for the campsite of course). There was a clear difference between the Irish and Bulgarian fans most simply because of the colors surrounding their tents, but no matter who they supported it seemed like about ninety percent of the sites were rowdy getting excited for the match that night. The trio ran into a few Hogwarts students while venturing around, including Seamus and Dean, as well as some other Seventh years who were of course quidditch fanatics.

After about an hour of mucking around, the three of them headed back to their tent to eat and head out to the match. Returning to the tent, they saw Mr. Weasley, Bill and Ginny setting the table with the meal Mrs. Weasley had sent along with them to eat for dinner. The dinner table was full of laughter and barbs about the anticipated match. The twins kept trying to make a bet with their brothers on the outcome of the match, but Bill and Charlie knew better than to give into the twins.

After they ate, Mr. Weasley sat everyone down to have a discussion about safety, considering the match was likely to get very intense. Mr. Weasley didn't seem worried about mishaps during the game, but more so after. After ensuring all his charges were ready to head out, the group left the tent to head towards the stadium. The group were all chatting when Mr. Weasley was called to a stop by a tall, thin man with a curled mustache. He was introduced to the rest of us as Mr. Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Mr. Bagman was the one who had given Mr. Weasley the opportunity to come to the game.

While Mr. Weasley and Mr. Bagman were talking and leading the group to their seats, Hermione caught the twins whispering out of the corner of her eye.

"What are you two planning?" She whispered out of the corner of her mouth, catching Ginny's attention.

The twins looked at one another before answering. "Since ole Bill and Charlie won't make a bet with us," Fred began. "We think that Bagman may be a good betting partner in their place," George finished. The twins looked a little flushed with the thought of possibly winning some money that they were free to use however they wanted.

"Really," Hermione asked exasperatedly as Ginny rolled her eyes. "Boys," she lectured "you have absolutely no way of ensuring he remains faithful on his end of the bet." Seeing Fred getting ready to interject, Hermione continued without pause. "And, don't you remember what Percy said? Bagman has a history of gambling and not paying his debts. Hes likely to get fired because of it."

The twin frowned for a moment before relenting that Hermione had a point. She smiled before linking arms with them and walking a little faster to catch up with the rest of their group. "Besides," she whispered "I'm sure you can use that money for less nefarious activities." She skipped away from the twins with a laugh as they glanced warily to each other before continuing their trek.

When their group reached the stadium, Bagman took the lead and walked up, up, up. Hermione was scared of heights and the height they were at when they finally stopped climbing had her chest a little tight. Their brood entered the top box, and Hermione was surprised to see that they were in the box with the Minister of Magic, and what definitely looked like other foreign Ministers.

Hermione filed into her seat between Charlie and Ginny. The other people in the box were chattering, and it seemed obvious to Hermione that the minister that Minister Fudge was speaking with looked like he would rather be anywhere than where he was. Hermione smothered a laugh as she turned to face the field as Ludo Bagman headed to the podium.

"Good Evening ladies and gentlemen!" Bagman said in a booming voice amplified by a _sonorus_ charm. "Welcome to the annual Quidditch World Cup. Let us Welcome the Bulgarian team!"

With a sweep of his arm, a group of women who seemed to be almost glowing swept onto the field. Ginny and Hermione gave each other a look, hardly impressed. Hermione glanced towards the boys and was alarmed to see the twins, Harry and Ron leaning almost completely over the safety railing while Mr. Weasley was covering his ears. The Bulgarian team was now on the field, and the fans had taken up a chant of a players name but Hermione paid no attention.

Hermione jumped up with a squeaky "Boys?" leaving her mouth. She reached out to them only to hear the laughter coming from the oldest Weasley brothers. With a glare tossed over her shoulder, the brothers muffled their laughter and hurried to explain the situation to Hermione.

"Don't worry Hermione!" Bill said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah Hermione," Charlie continued nervously "It's just the veela! The boys are just a little mesmerized."

Hermione turned around to ask more questions, but Bagman chose to announce the Irish team then. As soon as the women on the field were replaced with the vibrant leprechauns and players of the Irish team, the boys all came back from the rail, causing Hermione to sigh in relief and plop back down into her seat. She wasn't sitting for long before her friends forced her to stand for the beginning of the Quidditch World Cup.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione could definitely say it was exhilarating to watch a national quidditch match. Even though she was not the biggest fan, she had found herself shouting along with Harry and the Weasleys during the match. Like Fred and George had predicted, Bulgaria had caught the snitch but Ireland was still taking home the Quidditch World Cup.

As Hermione and her group were leaving to head back to their tent, the teams were making their way into the box to meet with the ministers. Hermione's eye was briefly caught by a player in red who stood taller than even the fully grown adults in the top box. The player, who she now recognized as star seeker Viktor Krum, also had a clearly broken nose that was still bleeding sluggishly.

Hermione had to drag Harry and Ron out of the box after they saw the players and began wanting to stop and ask for autographs and pictures. Their group passed by large groups of singing and dancing Irish fans, and heavily drunk and scowling Bulgarian fans. Laughing, Hermione entered their tent and they began to break out butterbeer and the wireless to have a small celebration of their own.

Only a few minutes after the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had settled into their tent, Mr. Weasley stepped outside at the sound of what seemed to be some more rowdy fans. None of the kids payed any attention to it until Mr. Weasley rushed back into the tent with a grim ook on his face.

"Kids," he stated as he rushed to his rucksack "This is going to have to be cut a little short." Fred and George groaned in unison, only to be cut off as they were slapped on the head by Bill and Charlie who were rising from their seat while unholstering their wands. At seeing the oldest brothers reactions, Hermione slipped her wand from her wrist holster and gripped it tightly

"There are death eaters outside," Mr. Weasley said roughly. Bill and Charlie stood up a little straighter as the seriousness of the situation set in. "Bill and Charlie, you're with me. We are going to go see what's going on. The rest of you, I want you to head to the portkey if you can."

Mr. Weasley handed Fred and George rucksacks, and continued to say "if you cannot make it, head for the woods. This should be over quickly. Fred, George you are in charge of Ginny. You all stick together and stay safe." Mr. Weasley pinned them all with a serious gaze that made something in Hermione's gut churn.

With a nod the group split up. Fred and George took the lead, with Ginny in between them, with Harry, Ron and Hermione right on their tails. As they were heading for the portkey, Harry was shoved by a running passerby, and Ron and Hermione both knelt down to pull him back to his feet. By the time they stood up, Fred, George and Ginny were gone.

"Well," Hermione said breathlessly "does anyone remember where the portkey is?" When both boys shook their heads, she cursed under her breath. "Ok then, plan B, we go for the woods."

The trio turned and went towards the woods that loomed tall over the camp site for the World Cup. People were running and screaming, some tents were even on fire. As they hurried towards the woods, the trio caught a glimpse of a group of people floating a figure above their heads, dressed in black robes, masks and tall pointed dark hats. These were the Death Eaters then.

The Trio made it to the edge of the woods before encountering trouble. (And by trouble, think more of a nuisance). With his striking blonde hair, Draco Malfoy didn't look like the events taking place were effecting him at all.

"Well well," he drawled in his silky voice that he had probably had to practice with for years to perfect. "If it isn't the boy who lived, his blood traitor friend and the mudblood. Isn't it fun to see what happens to those on the wrong side?" Hermione could hear Ron sucking air in to begin a long winded rant, but she acted before he could.

In a move too quick to track Hermione was in Malfoy's face with her wand at his throat. "Isn't it funny," she said quietly as he flinched "that you flinch when the mudblood has her wand on you, because you're scared?" Draco clenched his jaw and refused to answer. Smirking, Hermione stepped back and said "I think we'll be going now. Don't want the aurors to find us with a death eater wannabe." She turned her back on Draco, showing she was distinctly unafraid of him. The boys were staring at her, mouth agape. She started stalking away, calling out "come on boys," to the two behind her.

The trio did not speak until they were far away from Malfoy, though Hermione could feel their eyes on her. She came to a stop in an area far enough into the woods that none of the attackers would wander upon them, before the boys began to talk.

"Hermione," Ron said in awe. Harry carried on "I think you may have made Malfoy piss himself."

"Don't be dramatic," She scoffed "At most, he felt his balls draw so far up into himself he thought he was going to vomit them up." The boys laughed at her statement, and then the three of them settled in to wait the death eaters out.

It was quiet in the woods, one could only vaguely hear the turmoil happening at the campsite, and it was hard to even tell if the death eaters were still running around or not. That made it easy for the three of them to hear footsteps in the brush coming from in front of them. Hermione slowly slid into a crouch, her wand held out in a casting stance in front of her. As the footsteps grew nearer, she could feel her heartbeat increase to a loud thudding in her ears.

The footsteps came to a stop, and there was a soft call of _lumos_ , and light filled this part of the woods. Hermione caught herself in the middle of her _stupefy_ cast, when she realized the Bulgarian national team was standing in front of her with their wands down.

Hermione stood up, with Harry and Ron coming to her side as the two groups stared one another down. Krum was still holding his lightened wand, and looked apprehensive at the British students in front of him.

"You lot a part of the scumbags terrorizing people out there?" Hermione asked bluntly with narrowed eyes.

The team answered with a chorus of loud and venhement 'no.'

Nodding, she said "Well then, should we head back to the campsite?" The team answered with various agreements, and Hermione turned on her heel to head back to the campsite

"Miss?" a deeply accented voice called out. Hermione turned around to see Viktor Krum with his thumb pointed over his shoulder "Campsite is this way," he said smiling.

"Right, of course," she said before stalking past the group of men and ignoring their snickers. As the group got close to the campsite, it was easy to hear that the Death Eaters had fled. The group entered the campsite again.

Hermione was walking purposefully when her wrist was graped and tugged sharply, sending her careening into a solid chest. She went to open her mouth to complain when a large hand quickly covered her mouth. The body behind her used his second hand to point to a figure rummaging around about thirty feet away from them. Hermione nodded her head, and once she was released she turned to see Krum was staring over her head with dark eyes at the person that was now standing with a wand pointed to the sky.

The wizard yelled a spell Hermione didn't recognize, and a skull and snake was formed in the sky made out of a green smoke. Hermione's eyes widened at seeing the Dark Mark in the sky. The wizard turned and began walking away from the group. As they all had their heads turned to the sky, they were startled to hear the distinct pops of apparation quickly followed by a volley of offensive curses. With a yelp Hermione was shoved to the ground, with a body covering her (she could only assume it was the Krum fellow again).

There was a lot of shouting before Arthur Weasley shoved through the wall of aurors and ministry people surrounding the group on the ground. "Stop, they're just children!" He yelled while shoving peoples wand arms away from the group. When the aurors eventually stood down, the body on top of Hermione was lifted away and then arms were under her's, pulling her from the ground.

She turned around to see Viktor Krum staring down at Hermione from his impressive height. "You are alright?" he questioned. Hermione smiled and nodded, responding "Quite. Thank you." He smiled at her before speaking again "May I know you name miss?" Hermione smirked and opened her mouth but before she could respond, Mr. Weasley was grasping her shoulder.

"Hermione love," he said, sparing a quick glance towards the imposing figure of Krum. "We should be going." Hermione nodded and Mr. Weasley turned towards Krum with his hand outstretched "Thank you for taking care of my children Mr. Krum." Krum stood up straighter (how was that possible?) as he took Mr. Weasley's hand. "It was my pleasure sir, though it seemed she was the one taking care of us all sir," Viktor said with a smirk in Hermione's direction. She rolled her eyes as Mr. Weasley laughed and nodded "Yes, that is our Hermione."

Mr. Weasley began to tug Hermione away, and she turned to wave at Viktor as she and Mr. Weasley headed to where Bill, Charlie, Harry and Ron were all looking at her with laughing eyes. She narrowed her eyes and that seemed to do the trick as the boys all rushed to turn and head quickly to the port keys.

With a smile, Hermione began to wonder if she ever would be seeing this Krum fellow again. _He had smelled nice_ , she thought absentmindedly as she grasped onto a stick that would take her home.


	4. Chapter 4

Things were tense at the Burrow following the World Cup.

When the group had returned, Mrs. Weasley had grabbed all her children and Harry and Hermione into a large bear hug and had to be pried off by Mr. Weasley. Before she burst into tears, Mr. Weasley was able to usher the kids up stairs before they would be trapped by Mrs. Weasley again.

Hermione and Ginny went to her room, and got dressed for bed in silence. They turned off the lamp and laid in their separate beds in silence to try and fall asleep. When Hermione was about half asleep, she heard Ginny whisper her name. She rolled over and blinked blearily at the younger girl, waiting for her to speak. "Can I sleep with you?" She whispered, not meeting Hermione's eyes.

As she pulled her wand from under her pillow Hermione responded to the red head "Of course you can Gin, just let me enlarge the bed." Ginny smiled weakly and climbed into bed with Hermione, who squeezed Ginny's arm before rolling back onto her side. That night, the girls nightmare's were kept away because of the feeling of safety.

The Weasley and Co. annual trip to Diagon Alley had been slightly derailed by the events of the cup. Mrs. Weasley wanted to be sure there would be no fallout from the cup before she let the children into the central Wizarding hub of England. So the children spent a few days playing in the lake on the Weasley's property, and lazing around in the sun.

They ended up going to Diagon Alley the day before the Hogwart's Express would be taking the children back to Scotland. The trip was hurried and frantic, like normal. What was not normal was the amount of times both of the Weasley adults looked over their shoulders. Mrs. Weasley lead the group while Mr. Weasley was at the back of the group to ensure no one was lost. It seemed that safety was becoming more and more paramount.

The day of September the 1st in the Weasley household was hectic as usual. Both Hermione and Ginny had taken care to pack their trunks the night before, to ensure they could relax in the morning and eat breakfast. Harry and Ron chose the exact opposite approach.

Mrs. Weasley had woke the girls up with a gentle call of their names when she had seen that they were already packed. The boys on the other hand, she woke up with a bellow of their names. Hermione and Ginny giggled as they got dressed, able to hear the scrambling happening in the room above them.

As the girls ate breakfast, the twins joined them shortly before Mrs. Weasley headed up the rickety stairs to begin yelling at Harry and Ron again. Mr. Weasley shook his head with a smile and continued reading the paper, disregarding his wifes continuous shrieking. Eventually, the boys stumbled down the stairs, dragging their trunks with Mrs. Weasley berating them close behind. As the girls got up to grab their luggage to depart for King's Cross, the boys were shoving toast down their throats as Mr. Weasley laughed. The twins began dragging the boys out of their seats to make sure they would be able to catch the train back to Scotland.

This year, the group had been sent a car by the ministry, to make them look good by assuring that the boy-who-lived would make it to the station safely. Hermione and Harry giggled at the Weasley children, who were astounded by the muggle invention.

When they arrived at King's Cross, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed their charges into the station. In sets of two, they all leaned against the wall between platforms 9 and 10, sliding smoothly onto platform 9 and 3/4s. The lively platform pulled a smile from Hermione, seeing friends greeting each other after months apart, parents holding onto their children looking as if they never wanted to let go. It had all become familiar to Hermione, and it made Hogwarts and the wizarding world feel more and more like home.

The train ride to Hogwarts was strangely uneventful, considering the world cup had been such a short time before. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny had been joined in their compartment by Luna Lovegood, who was friends with Ginny, and Neville. The six of them caught up on what had happened over the summer, and they were of course asked by Neville and Luna about the World Cup. Ron had no problem retelling the tale, but it seemed as if Hermione was the only one who noticed Neville's face growing grimmer and grimmer as the story came to a close.

Neville, Hermione had come to learn over the summer, lived with his grandmother because death eaters had landed both of his parents in St. Mungos indefinitely due to some prolonged crucios. This was why Hermione felt such a need to fight. Not only, were Tom Riddle's followers pureblood supremacists who believed blood was the most important, they were the kind of people who would hurt anybody they came across, no matter what.

Hermione gave Neville's shoulder a tight squeeze as Ron finished the story. Neville gave her a grateful look, and was quick to change the subject as he asked Ron and Ginny to play exploding snap. The redheads readily agreed, and the three set up on the floor of the compartment while Hermione pulled out a book to immerse herself in. The group let the rest of the trip pass mindlessly.

Arriving at Hogwarts was, like always, an experience. There was of course Hagrid calling all of the first years to the boats. Hermione and the rest of her friends climbed in to a carriage together. The trip to the castle was quick, and soon enough the group of friends were sitting at their house table, catching up with their year mates. Hermione, Ron and Harry were quick to notice an empty spot at the head table where Remus had sat the year before, but they were pulled out of their musings when Dumbledore stood from his seat.

Dumbledore called the room to order to begin the sorting. Professor McGonagall stalked into the Great Hall, looking imposing as ever and being followed by the first years that were gazing around the room in wonder. The sorting was conducted without much fanfare, thought the sorting hat had added some strange lines in it's song that referenced the making of many new friends in the coming term. But it all made sense when Dumbledore gave his speech.

"Welcome back to another year here at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore began with a characteristic twinkle in his eyes "As you all know, Hogwarts is one of the premier wizarding schools in the world. This has allowed us, in the coming year to host a great international event on our grounds." The headmaster had to pause here due to the whispers that broke out at his announcement "Many of you," he continued "are familiar with the history of this event. In under two months time, Hogwarts will be welcoming two other wizarding school delegations to Scotland to participate in the TriWizard tournament."

The hall broke out into chatter once again, and Hermione thought back to when she had first arrived in the wizarding world, and _Hogwarts: A History_ had been her best friend. She recalled reading about Hogwarts sending a garrison of students to foreign schools to compete in such tournament, but she also recalled reading that the tournament had been discontinued due to some of the champions dying.

As if reading her confused mind, Dumbledore began speaking again over the students "This will be the first year the tournament will be held since 1795, and some safeguards have been created to make the tournament as safe as possible! One such safeguard will be an age limit. All students putting their name in the running to compete as a champion must be seventeen."

Dumbledore had to pause here due to the uproar his statement. To Hermione's surprise, some of the loudest groans were coming from the Weasley twins that sat across from her. With a frown covering her face, Hermione kicked both of her legs out under the table, connecting to the twin's shins. The twins groans turned into startled yelps, and they both turned wounded eyes to their brunette friend. They were quick to turn away once again when they saw Hermione's patented "I-am-disappointed-in-you-and-you-make-me-sad" look, that she must have learned from the Weasley matriarch because it worked better than the look Mrs. Weasley often used.

Dumbledore let the complaining fo on for a moment before he tapped his wand on the podium three times, producing an echoing slam in the hall that shut all the groaning students up. "Now then, there are of course other safeguards, but only the champions will need to be privy to that information."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to continue his normal term announcements, but was interrupted by the startling crack of the doors to the great hall bouncing open. Through the door came a hunched over figure, walking with a limp and shrouded in a black travelling cloak that covered their face.

"Ah," Dumbledore mused "It looks as if our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has arrived." When the professor reached the head table Dumbledore stepped forward and shook his hand, while speaking to the person under his breath. With a nod the professor walked towards the empty seat at the table between McGonagall and Snape. "Students, this years Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Mr. Alastor Moody!" As he was introduced, the man dropped his hood to show a scarred face and a mechanical eye that looked to be whirring around in its encasement against the mans face.

Dumbledore then continued on with his term announcements, but Hermione's mind couldn't concentrate on such mundane things. This tournament was bound to cause trouble. Foreign witches and wizards in the school, an event that came with a death warning. Hermione had a feeling that this year would not be a simple one, and when she made eye contact with Harry sitting beside her she knew she wasn't the only one feeling that way.


	5. Chapter 5

The term at Hogwarts went on like normal up until Halloween. Classes happened like normal. Snape took points from anyone that moved during class, Peeves was playing tricks on every student, professor, headmaster and Filch, and Hermione was just trying to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble. Another part of the normal start to the term was the first fight with Malfoy of the year.

On the first day of classes, Harry, and Hermione had squared off against Malfoy and his goons in the courtyard of the castle. Insults had been thrown back and forth. Malfoy talking about the Weasley's finances, and then proceeding to insult Mrs. Weasley which caused Harry to retort with some choice words about Mrs. Malfoy. The whole time, Hermione had stood silent by her friends side with her wand at the ready.

After Harry had insulted Malfoy's mother, he had foolishly turned around to leave, therefore not seeing Malfoy raise his wand, but Hermione had. She struck Malfoy with a swift stinging curse, causing him to yelp and lower his wand. Hermione had glared at the blonde until he had huffed and then grabbed his goons and then stormed out of the courtyard pouting. Harry had gone to thank Hermione but she had cut him off with a quick beration of him turning his back on his opponent. Harry had looked properly chastised and had hugged Hermione quickly before promising to be more careful and dragging Hermione off to lunch with her boys.

Another unusual part of the term was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. The first class had every student pretty convinced that Moody was as crazy as the papers said he was, what with his constant bellowing about practicing constant vigilance, and then the lesson on unforgivables.

Moody had had the fourth year Gryffindor and Slytherin class watch as he had practiced the three unforgivable curses on a spider. Hermione had been shaken following the lesson, and found comfort between Harry and Ron, but Neville was not so lucky. The boy had been so pale after the lesson, likely from witnessing the curse that had terrorized his parents. Moody had called the boy back up to his office, but Hermione could not help but be a little wary.

That same night, Harry, Hermione and Ron had sat on the couch in the Gryffindor common room long after the rest of the tower was tucked into bed. The fire in the hearth lowered before it rose again, this time with a face in it.

"Hello children," Sirius Black called joyfully with a large smile on his face. The trio fell to their knees before the fire and greeted Sirius warmly. "Ok," he cut them off with a chuckle "I know you three have missed my handsome mug, but lets get this update on what's happening at school."

"Well," Harry said slowly "the Triwizard Tournament will take place at Hogwarts this year." Sirius looked shocked at this news, meaning that Harry had not mentioned it in his letters.

"Pup, you should have mentioned this to me sooner," Sirius scolded gently. "That is very interesting though. The timing is interesting as well." Hermione nodded along with Sirius' train of thought. "No bother, Dumbledore knows what he's doing. Ok, anything else kiddos?"

Hermione thought for a moment before deciding to speak. "Sirius, did you ever know Alastor Moody?"

"Mad Eye?" Sirius questioned. At her nod he went on "Yes kitten, he was my trainer when I joined the Aurors. I worked with him a lot. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Hermione drawled "He is our new DADA professor."

"Really?" Sirius questioned in an incredulous tone. "Moody as a professor? That's an interesting choice. But I do suppose Dumbledore doesn't have many other choices these days."

"Does he strike you as the kind of wizard to, I don't know," Hermione said slowly "To practice the unforgivables on a live animal in his classes?"

"What?" Sirius practically hissed with a hard look in his eyes. "Definitely not."

"Ok," Hermione mumbled.

After a moment of silence, with Sirius, Harry and Ron looking at her, Sirius responded to her. "Kitten, trust your gut," he urged "I never knew Moody to even use unforgivables, even in combat. But that was over 12 years ago, and the times have changed."

Hermione nodded and kept quiet while Harry said a lengthy goodbye to his Godfather and set up their next time to talk. Once Sirius had left the building, the boys said goodnight and headed up to bed themselves but Hermione stayed behind for a few minutes just staring into the fire. When she finally climbed into her bed, she said a quick prayer to whoever was listening, hoping for no more danger in the coming year.

Hallows Eve at Hogwarts was like a big ole party. The ghosts were rowdier than normal, playing pranks on everyone, there was a feast, and the castle just seemed to be alive even as the weather outside seemed to get drearier and drearier. Hermione and the boys sat down at the Gryffindor table with Ginny and the twins, and as they chatted the Great Hall filled up and got even louder because of the excited voices filling it. Tonight the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students would be arriving, officially beginning the Tournament proceedings.

Hermione's stomach was staring to grumble when Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the table. "Students! It is my privilege to announce to you the arrival of our sister and brother schools in the Triwizard tournament! First, we have the wonderful ladies from Beauxbatons with their lovely Headmistress, Madame Maxime!"

The doors to the Great Hall opened to reveal a group of women dressed in delicate blue dressed and hats. The young women danced down the middle of the hall, sighing and releasing butterflies from their sleeves as they went. Hermione was unsurprised to see that almost every male specimen in the hall was staring at the ladies with fascination.

Following the girls, was the single largest person that Hermione has ever seen. The dark haired woman walked gracefully, despite her size. Dumbledore left his seat to meet the woman (he did not even reach her bosom in height), and greeted her as he bent over her extended hand and kissed the air above it. "Students! Let us welcome the ladies of Beauxbatons!" The hall erupted in claps, the boys of Hogwarts clapping much more enthusiastically than the girls. The girls from Beauxbatons headed to the Ravenclaw table while Dumbledore returned to his seat once again.

"And next," the Headmaster called "We welcome the students of Durmstrang! And their Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff!" The doors to the hall banged open, revealing a group of men and women(because there was no way they could be just boys and girls) dressed in furs and thick coats. The group walked down the aisle, banging great wooden staffs on the stone floor in time with their footsteps. One man broke from the group, and took a knee while he blew a great fire bird from his staff.

At the back of the group were the two most eye drawing figures. Both men were tall and intimidating, but Hermione recognized the slightly taller one as Viktor Krum, meaning the other was the Headmaster of Durmstrang. As the men joined their fellows at the front of the hall, Krum glanced toward the Gryffindor table and caught Hermione's eye and seemed surprised to recognize her before offering her a smirk and turning back towards the approaching Dumbledore.

"Ah Igor!" the headmaster called as he shook the man's hand. "Such a pleasure! You can lead your young men over to the Slytherin table." Fitting, Hermione thought. Considering she had read that Durmstrang specialized in Dark Magic and refused muggle borns admittance. They would be comfortable with the snakes.

"Now that we are all here!" Dumbledore called, once more at his seat "We can eat. But before the plates are brought out, a toast!" Everyone raised their glasses with the Headmaster. "To new friends, and international cooperation!" Hermione laughed as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice, being very aware that the tagline of the Triwizard tournament would be 'International Cooperation.'

The day after the arrival of the other schools passed like any other, the only difference being the larger volume of students in the hall. Hermione had retreated to the library after dinner, and shared a smile with Madam Pince before claiming what many had come to know as 'Hermione's Table'. She settled in to do her essay for Herbology. She was about five inches in when she heard the sound of many feet and high pitched giggles enter the library. She ignored the noise until she could see out of the corner of her eye, a figure stop by the empty chair at her table.

At the sound of a clearing throat, Hermione looked up from her essay and was surprised to see Viktor Krum smiling at her. "May I?" He asked while gesturing to the seat at her table. Hermione hesitated for a moment, just to see him lose his confidence, before nodding with a small smile. She was surprised to see him pull a book from his bag before sitting down, and he opened it to begin reading, rather than try to start a conversation with her.

Hermione turned back to her essay, but was unable to get far with the constant giggling and sighs occuring in the aisle next to her. She huffed and threw her quill down, causing Viktor to look at her with a raised eyebrow which she glared at while standing and stalking over to the aisle that was apparently the Viktor Fan Club HQ.

"Listen," She hissed, enjoying the way the girls all looked scared at the sight of the Gryffindor Princess with a face that spelled trouble for whoever crossed her. "This is a library, leave the poor boy alone while he's in here." A few of the girls looked ready to protest, so Hermione brought out her 'listen-to-me-or-else-you' face and spoke again "Do you ladies really want to try me?" She asked sweetly. The girls shook their heads quickly before scampering to the exit of the library. Satisfied, Hermione headed back to her essay, and saw Viktor looking at her in awe.

"What," She snapped self consciously.

"You," he began. "No one can ever get rid of them, believe me, family and I have tried."

"Well," Hermione said smugly while sitting down. "I'm-"

"Marry me?" he said loudly, cutting her off. She giggled in surprise before responding.

"You at least need to take me out on a date," she teased gently, knowing the boy hadn't meant it.

"Ok," he said "This weekend? Hogsmeade?"

Hermione stared at him for a moment, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. "Viktor, I was kidding! You don't need to-"

He chuckled at her "Of course I don't need to. But I have a pretty and smart young lady in front of me, who gets rid of those pesky fangirls. Why would I not want to take her on a date?"

"Viktor you really don't-" She tried once again.

"No!" He exclaimed, before falling to his knees and grabbing both of her hands. Hermione laughed nervously, looking around to see if people were noticing the best seeker in the world on his knees in front of a plain Gryffindor. "Please, allow me to take you on a date," he begged.

"Ok," Hermione agreed, just to get him off of the floor.

He kissed her hands before yelling in his mother tongue "ya byl blagoslovlen!" (I have been blessed)

Hermione rolled her eyes before responding "ne dramaticheskiy," (don't be dramatic).

Viktor froze and looked at Hermione in shock before replying "ty govorish' po-russki?" (You speak Russian?)

"Da," Hermione responded with a smile "moi babushki i dedushki zhivut tam, i eto moy rodnoy yazyk, poetomu ona nauchila menya," (my grandparents live there and it is my mothers first language, so she taught me).

Viktor stared at her in awe for another minute before shaking out of his stupor and switching back to English "The more you know," he said while looking at her with heavy eyes "Well, you will meet me in the entrance hall at, say 10? On Saturday? We can go to village together?"

Hermione smiled and said sweetly "Yes, that would be lovely."

Viktor beamed at her before grabbing his bag and book, and leaned over to kiss Hermione's cheek. As he stood, and saw her look of shock, he departed saying "do subboty printsessa." (Until Saturday Princess).

Hermione was still in shock a few minutes after Viktor had left, and slowly gathered up her books, heading back to the tower. Harry and Ron tried to get her to stay in the common room with them, but she brushed her boys off and headed to her room. She got undressed and climbed into bed. That night she dreamt of the Russian countryside where she had grown up, and a tall man with a cheeky smile.


End file.
